Family seeks to quash criminal charges against Daim, wife
Published on: Friday, February 02, 2024
By:
FMT, V Anbalagan
Daim Zainuddin and his wife, Naimah Khalid, have been charged with failing to comply with notices requiring them to disclose their assets.
PETALING JAYA: Former finance minister Daim Zainuddin and members of his family are seeking the High Court’s permission to claim additional relief in their application for a judicial review of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) probe into their financial affairs.
In an application filed two days ago, the family asked for leave to include orders to quash criminal charges brought by the public prosecutor against Daim and wife Naimah Khalid as additional relief sought in the review.
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They said the additional relief had become necessary after new developments which saw the couple charged in court at the end of last month.
On Jan 23, Naimah was charged under Section 36(2) of the MACC Act 2009 with failing to declare her ownership in various companies, several plots of land here and in Penang, as well as two vehicles.
Six days later, Daim was charged under the same provision with failing to declare his ownership in 38 companies, 19 plots of land in Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Kedah and Kuala Lumpur, as well as six properties, seven vehicles and two bank accounts.
Both pleaded not guilty to the charges, which carry a jail sentence of up to five years and a fine of not more than RM100,000 upon conviction.
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In an affidavit in support of the application, lawyer Alicia Sabrina Gomez said the amendment was not likely to cause injustice or embarrass the public prosecutor or MACC, named as respondents in the proposed judicial review application.
“In the event, the notices are declared void and quashed, the two charges which are predicated on non-compliance with those notices would similarly be void and bound to be quashed,” she said in the document sighted by FMT.
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The court papers have been served on the Attorney-General’s Chambers.
On Jan 11, Daim and his family members filed an application for leave to commence judicial review proceedings to quash the MACC investigation.
They said they were in the dark about the nature of the investigation, except for news reports claiming it was linked to the Pandora Papers.
Daim and his family also said the MACC probe into alleged money laundering and abuse of power was unconstitutional.
The family claimed the investigations began some time in February 2023.
On Jan 16, the application for leave was heard before Justice Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh who fixed March 4 to deliver his ruling.
At the hearing, senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan opposed the leave application, saying the apex court has ruled that the exercise of powers by investigative bodies is not amenable to judicial review.
Lawyer Tommy Thomas, representing the family, contended that the investigation is bad in law as both the MACC Act 2009 and Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001, under which his clients are being investigated, only came into force after Daim had left public office.
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